Vacation Homes

Mock roof helps shed home's Stephen King style

Creating symmetry for 'castle' gives balance to dwelling

The Halloween colour scheme would benefit from being replaced with a fresher palette. Adding a mock roof would visually link the central tower and the flat back part of the house, while metal guards would keep ice from falling on people below.

Photograph by: Handout photo / Suzanne Rowe
, The Gazette

When I first looked at this home, it appeared to be straight out of a Stephen King movie.

The new owner had submitted it for suggestions to create a more appealing and inviting concept. I was prepared to create a new design as long as the proprietor steered away from the castle look.

A visual connection between the overpowering central tower and the square block of the back part would immediately balance and unify the two parts. I strongly suggest investing in a roof frontage on at least the front and the two sides. This mock roof would adopt the same colour, angle and material as the pyramidal one. Installing metal guards on the base of the roofs would prevent the thawing ice from sliding unto someone.

The Halloween colour scheme would benefit from being replaced with a fresher palette. A soft natural sand hue with no red tint for the walls, in a matte finish and in the same colour as the roof for the shutters and the doors in a semi-gloss finish, would be welcome. The entrances need updating with a new and understated contemporary style door with full semiopaque glass.

To respect the symmetrical architecture, a mirror effect would be obtained with the repetition of the vegetation and the two adjoining structures on both sides. These will horizontally enlarge the facade and break up the imposing height of the tower. A seating area near the mud room door and its twin on the main entry on the right would be both covered with a pergola and painted with an exterior acrylic stain in the same sandy beige as the stucco. Two tall and wide trellises stained light green would support stunning Purple Star Clematis.

Set back on each side of the house, two medium-sized Malus Lollipop with their showy white blossoms and their ornate miniature applelike fruits could contribute to a "pretty factor'' that the home so desperately needs.

Since there is no lawn, the landscaping is limited in size and in the variety of vegetation that can be used while still achieving a bold statement with the clean line of the ornamental grasses and the quiet sophistication of the complementing flowering shrubs and annuals.

A new treated-wood rectangular bed, centred and the same width as the tower, would host three to five flowing ornamental Pennisetum planted in a row.

Big-scale flower containers on each corner of the deck could decorate the new spaces with ever-blossoming and drought-tolerant purple and white annuals.

For a house to look its best, it is very important to have, if not the same inside window treatment, at least the same colour throughout. In this case I would propose white as a choice for curtains or thick wood blinds.

This new design gives the home a younger twist while adding simple natural and material elements inspires a housewarming gathering.

Let's not forget about the lighting. Light fixtures are imperative near both entries; otherwise, the darkness will discourage the pizza guy from showing up!

Vegetation (from back to front):

--Malus Lollipop (2 fruit trees, white blossoms)

--Clematis Viticella Violet Star (2 climbing on trellis)

--Calibrachoa Million Bells (purple annuals, flower pot)

--Pelargonium X Peltatum (white cascading annuals, flower pot)

--Pennisetum Alopecuroides (3 to 5 perennial grasses)

HOUSEWARMING: Most homes can use a little help when it comes to warming up their curb appeal. If you'd like some inexpensive ideas on how to improve the appearance of your home, send a clear photo of your house with your commentary to: Suzanne Rowe, Designer, suro@bell.net. Because of the volume of email she receives, it is not possible for her to individually reply to each correspondent.

Story Tools

The Halloween colour scheme would benefit from being replaced with a fresher palette. Adding a mock roof would visually link the central tower and the flat back part of the house, while metal guards would keep ice from falling on people below.

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